{"id":5,"date":"2018-07-02T04:20:37","date_gmt":"2018-07-02T04:20:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lisp1.epgpbooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/2018\/07\/02\/chapter-1\/"},"modified":"2018-12-04T08:58:56","modified_gmt":"2018-12-04T08:58:56","slug":"chapter-1","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/lisp1\/chapter\/chapter-1\/","title":{"rendered":"General Introduction to the Course on Knowledge Society"},"content":{"raw":"
\"epgp<\/a>\r\n<\/span><\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nStructure of the Module<\/strong>\r\n\r\n1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Introduction\r\n\r\n2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Factors of Digital Divide\r\n\r\n3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Role of Librarian and information Centre\r\n\r\n4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Outline and Plan\r\n\r\n5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A note for the students\r\n\r\n1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Introduction<\/strong>\r\n

The world is in the process of structural transformation for nearly three decades. This process is multidimensional and is closely associated with the emergence of a new technological paradigm, based in Information and communication technologies that took shape in the last quarter of the 20th Century. However the diffusion of the technology has not been even around the world. Throughout history societies and communities have shaped technologies depending on needs, values, and interests of people who use the technology. ICTs are particularly sensitive to the culture values and social uses on technology itself. The term knowledge society certainly does not necessarily convey the same idea to all. This should be evident from the history of the Internet; the first thousands of users were mainly those who developed the technology. However in this 2nd decade of the 21st Century network society is already a reality, at least for many segments of our societies \u2013 academic, business, government, etc. It is certainly not as if the transformations are in the future. What characterizes the network society is that it constitutes a system of socialized communication beyond the mass media system that characterized the industrial society. The network society is not the future that we must reach by embracing the new technological paradigm. It is our society, in different degrees, and under different forms depending on countries and cultures. Our understanding of the notion of the knowledge society must start from this basic fact. It is not any particular destination but is largely a point of departure. People, institutions, governments, etc do not have to do anything to develop the network society because it is already here. Policy makers, however, should realize that not every individual is included in the network and the building of a true knowledge society requires that everyone should be included in the network. In societies that present unbalanced income distribution patterns, societies that have not yet transited to democratic form of governance, in societies with large\u00a0proportion of population still functionally illiterate there is the danger that mere technological modernization may further widen this divide. The statistical data on access to the ICTs and opening to the global networks clearly suggest that in many developing countries including the newly emerging economies of Asia such as China and India considerable deficits and gaps exist. As such the perspective of any discussion on knowledge society has to be necessarily cross cultural. Technological innovations by themselves cannot bring about the needed transformation. It necessarily has to be based in organizational changes and institutional models that will lead to the utilization of the potential of ICTs in all development-related activities.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

2. Factors of Digital Divide<\/strong>A UNESCO document identified the following factors as contributing to the digital divide.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n